Lee Jackson Day Speech, January 18, 2002,

Given in the Virginia State Capitol in

the Old Hall of the House of Delegates

as was part of the Friends of the

Lee Jackson Holiday Ceremony.
by
State Senator William T. (Bill) Bolling of Hanover


THOMAS JONATHAN "STONEWALL" JACKSON


Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born in Clarksburg, VA (now West
Virginia)  on  January  21, 1824, 178 years ago.  Thomas was
one of four children born to his mother and father, Jonathan
Jackson and Julia Neale.                                    


Early  life was difficult for young Thomas.  His father died
at an  early  age  and  his  mother,  who  later  remarried,
contracted a serious illness and died as well.  As a result,
Thomas and his brothers and sisters were split up and  lived
with a number of relatives during their formative years.    


By  all  accounts  Thomas  was  a very religious man to whom
faith in God was a very important  part  of  his  life.   In
fact,  at  his  funeral  in  1863 the Reverend Robert Dabney
uttered these words about General Jackson:                  


"Our dead hero is God's sermon to us...to inculcate upon  us
the virtues with which he was adorned by the Holy Ghost; and
especially those traits of the citizen, the  Christian,  and
the  soldier,  now  most  essential to the times_..He is the
bravest man who is the best Christian.  It is he  who  truly
fears  God,  who  is  entitled  to  fear nothing else_..This
strength General Jackson eminently possessed.  He walked  in
the  fear  of  God,  with  a  perfect heart, keeping all his
commandments and ordinances, blameless.  Never has  it  been
my  happiness to know one of greater purity of life, or more
regular and devout habits of prayer."                       


By all accounts Thomas was not a very good student, although
he  had  an  almost  innate interest in history and military
affairs.  In 1842 he applied for  admission  to  the  United
States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point and was initially
turned down, but he was  persistent,  and  gained  admission
when  another Cadet had to drop out.  Jackson seemed to find
himself and his destiny at West Point, and graduated 17th in
a  class  of  59  in  1846, receiving commission as a Second
Lieutenant in the United States Army.                       


Lieutenant Jackson saw his first military involvement in the
Mexican War, serving in the artillery for two years.  It was
during the Mexican War  that  Jackson  first  displayed  the
qualities for which he would become famous: resourcefulness,
bravery in the line of fire, and the  ability  to  keep  his
head under tremendous pressure.                             


When  the  Mexican  War  ended  Jackson  was assigned to the
Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania, but  the  peacetime  army
was  not  to Jackson's liking and he resigned his commission
in 1851 to  accept  a  teaching  position  at  the  Virginia
Military Institute in Lexington.                            


The  outbreak of the Civil War saw Jackson still teaching at
VMI, where he had specialized in  natural  and  experimental
philosophy and artillery tactics.  When the need of Virginia
for skilled soldiers became clear, Jackson responded to  the
call.   He  was ordered to Richmond with the entire Corps of
Cadets to drill with army recruits.  Less than a week  later
Jackson  took  command  of troops at Harper's Ferry who were
standing guard over the town following the uprising  stirred
by  the abolitionist John Brown.  A short time later Jackson
was promoted to  Brigadier  General.   Following  his  brief
service at Harpers Ferry, General Jackson assumed command of
a brigade in the  army  of  Gen.   Joseph  Johnston  in  the
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  With this brigade he engaged
General Robert Patterson's Union forces at  Falling  Waters,
Virginia on July 2, 1861, and in his first battle command of
the war General Jackson gained a tactical victory.          


In the  two  years  that  followed  General  Jackson  gained
well-deserved   recognition  as  one  of  the  South's  most
effective military leaders.  He led a number  of  successful
military  campaigns  in  the Shenandoah Valley, was actively
involved in the defense of the capitol city of Richmond, and
led  impressive offensive attacks at Harper's Ferry, against
an 11,000  man  Federal  garrison;  and  at  Antietam.   But
clearly,  the  two battles for which General Jackson is best
remembered were his courage at the first battle of Bull Run,
and his sacrafice at the battle of Chancellorsville.        


On July 18, 1861 Jackson and his brigade went to aid General
Pierre Beauregard at Manassas Junction, and on July 21, 1861
Jackson and his men took a decisive part in the first battle
of Bull Run.  Posting his brigade  on  the  strategic  Henry
House  Hill,  Jackson  steadied the Southern front against a
flank attack from General  Irvin  McDowell's  Union  troops.
Jackson's men, standing firm on the hill under the onslaught
of the Union attack, caught the attention of General Bernard
Bee.  As General Bee tried to rally his own shaken troops he
pointed to Jackson's line and  shouted  an  immortal  battle
cry"  "There  is Jackson, standing like a stonewall.  Let us
determine to die here and we will conquer." The name  stuck,
and  from  that  time  on General Jackson was affectionately
referred to as Stonewall.                                   


Some two years later, Federal General  Joseph  Hooker  began
the  spring campaign of 1863 by marching up the Rappahannock
in an effort to overtake the army of General Robert E.  Lee.
General  Jackson,  sent  to  intercept Hooker, hit the enemy
advance in the Wilderness near Chancellorsville  on  May  1,
1863.   By  nightfall  Jackson  and  Lee,  working  in close
harmony, decided that Hooker must be flanked, and  Lee  gave
Jackson  his  greatest  orders: if a feasible route could be
found, he would command the flank march.  By morning Jackson
prepared  to  march  with some 28,000 men, leaving Lee about
15,000 to face Hooker's entrenched force of over 100,000.  At
5:15  PM  on  May  2,  after  a  14  mile march - one of the
greatest marches of history - Jackson attacked Hooker  right
flank  -  the  11th United States Army Corps - and literally
blew it out of the war.  After  the  first  impetus  of  the
attack   waned,  Jackson  halted  his  men  to  regroup  and
fatefully trotted ahead of his line to reconnoiter.         


When he rode back toward his own men, he and his staff  were
mistaken for Federals and fire upon.  Jackson's left arm was
shattered and he was hit on the right  hand.   His  arm  was
amputated  and  his  other  wounds  were dressed, and he was
moved to Guiney's Station, a safe distance from  the  front,
to   recover.   Although  indications  were  that  he  would
recover, pneumonia set in on May 7 and  Jackson's  condition
grew  progressively  worse.   In  his  final  hours  General
Jackson roused himself to see his wife, who was at his side.
He clung firmly to his faith and occasionally thought of the
army.  Then, on the afternoon of May 10, 1863 he rallied one
last  time to speak his final stirring words_.."Let us cross
over the river and rest under the shade of the tree."       


With Stonewall Jackson's death the South  lost  one  of  its
most  capable,  most  respected  and  most  feared Generals.
Historians have speculated that the outcome of the  war  may
have  been  different  if  Jackson had survived and lived to
fight  again.   In  the  days  following   his   death   the
Confederacy  grieved  for its fallen captain.  Richmond held
its last state funeral.  General Jackson's body was lain  in
state  in  the  reception room of the Executive Mansion.  It
was carried through the streets of Richmond and came to rest
on  a  white-draped  alter before the Speaker's bench in the
Hall of the House  of  Delegates,  where  more  than  20,000
people  processed  by  to pay their respects.  The General's
body was then returned to Lexington by train,  where  people
gathered  at every stop to pay their respects.  At Lexington
the General's body was taken over by the  Corps  of  Cadets,
his  first  command,  and  was  laid  to  rest in a cemetery
looking down with a spreading view of the valley  and  hills
with the mountains beyond.                                  


While   much  could  be  said  of  General  Thomas  Jonathan
"Stonewall" Jackson, perhaps the most appropriate words were
written  by  his  friend,  General  Robert  E.   Lee.   Upon
learning of the General's passing,  General  Lee  wrote  the
following words to soldiers in his command.                 


"With  deep  grief  the  Commanding General announces to the
army the death of Lieutenant General T.  J.   Jackson.   The
daring,  skill and energy of this great and good soldier are
now, by the decree of an all wise  Providence,  lost  to  us
all.   But while we mourn his death we feel his spirit still
lives, and will inspire the whole army with his  indomitable
courage,  and  unshaken  confidence  in  God as our hope and
strength.  Let his name be a watchword  to  his  Corps,  who
have  followed  him  to  victory on so many fields.  Let his
officers and soldiers emulate his  invincible  determination
to do everything in the defense of our country."            


So was Stonewall Jackson thought of in his day, and so is he
remembered on this day.                                     

END